My Blackness Is Intangible

MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE

There’s no tanning bed that can melanate you to my complexion
No shade from Kylie’s palette to match my tone

Don’t you know that I originate from the sun?
My hair a conductor 
My crown a natural throne 

MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE

No doctor can give you a price for my black soul
No matter how you experiment on my body
Only one holds the key to unlocking the gene code 

The code is tightly knit 
Close in bondage 
Like kinship

MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE 

Because it is not something you can get 

It is only given 
It is many things 
It is something driven 

Like the mindset of a warrior 
My black conquers division 

MY BLACKNESS IS INTANGIBLE 

You cannot hold it to keep 
It comes with pain 
But that is only because 
In order to grow you need to know what it means to weep 

Hoping for better days 
A wise man by the name of Cornel West explained 

That black people are soulful
Gentle
Kind
And enabling  

Even in the midst of a mass genocide 
Humanity will call the unlocking of this
Black code The Great Awakening 
Sleep in a somber slumber 
Thousands of years have passed 
Since humanity united as one  

My blackness will only be tangible 
Through the admittance of love 

Love for oneself 
My blackness rises above
And stands g up for humanity 
Before creating tears from spilled blood 

Love has no measurable value
It is all free 
Love is the key 
Love is humanity 
For black 
And for me

(Editor's note: This is one of the winners of the Dr. Cornel West Composition Contest, sponsored by the University's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.)